Ripple Effect, Even the Girls
by Alveric
Summary: One of the Mitchells who came through during the funnel incident was rather more different than the others, what with having breasts and all. What happened after she and her team returned home? Side-story to 'The Times That Weren't' etc. Cam/Sam, F/F
1. Even the Girls

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1, I am only playing in the world

A/N: This is a side story / companion piece to my series of SG-1 tales which demanded to be told. Please enjoy this little peek into an alternate reality

**Ripple Effect – Even the Girls...**

Colorado Springs, July 2006 (alternate reality)

Cameron took a long swig of her beer as she sat on the hood of her Mustang with her heels hitched up on the front bumper and her elbows resting on her knees. She let the bottle dangle by the neck from her fingers as she listened to the birds high in the trees to either side of her. She'd parked at an overlook spot looking out on a forested valley in the foothills of the Rockies. Cheyenne Mountain was still visible to the southeast, she looked towards it and ran her fingers through her tousled brown hair, pushing her bangs from her eyes. A part of her was happy, unaccountably happy for her friend, in spite of everything which had happened the last few weeks. Truth be told, she was relieved, and somewhat guilty at feeling that relief. Danielle needed to be happy and Cameron knew the archaeologist wouldn't be happy with her, not in the long run. Vala coming back was the best thing that could have happened for Danielle really. She sighed and looked at the bottle as she held the neck with a thumb and two fingers and smiled ruefully. She took another long draw from it and let the cool sweating glass rest against her forehead for a moment afterwards before looking out across the wide expanse of unspoiled wilderness between her and Colorado Springs itself. Marvelling at how it was bathed in the iridescent blue light reflected from The Swath as it hung in the sky, making all the shades of greens and browns deeper than they really should be.

Science had cracked that particular puzzle long ago, and while Cameron wasn't as much for science as she could be, she knew The Swath was the single most significant feature inherent to her homeworld of Earth. The whole Solar System bathed in it and the effects it had were immense. The world at large thought it a curiosity of course, they didn't have the context she did, having visited other planets that traversed the cosmos through the emptiness of space. It had been the grand puzzle of biology for decades, centuries. Why were women more prevalent than men on Earth? The discovery of DNA and X and Y chromosomes had only made the puzzle even more enigmatic. Here was proof that the ratio of men to women should be even, it should be, mathematically and statistically speaking, fifty-fifty. And yet reality gave it as nearly sixty-forty among humans, and sometimes even more heavily divergent among other animal species. It wasn't until humanity had stopped looking through a microscope and started looking through a telescope that the answer presented itself. The Swath. Otherwise completely harmless, in fact, developmentally speaking, it was now quite beneficial to humanity. Cameron knew exactly how special The Swath was, because she'd seen Earth without it. She'd stood under a different Colorado sky than she was looking at now, and she knew what colour it was without The Swath. It was quite an experience, one she'd treasure for all her days.

She heard the 1971 Volvo P1800E moving through the gravel to park alongside her car. She'd recognise the note of that inline four B20E anywhere since she'd helped rebuild it from the ground up just under three years ago. She glanced over and let her blue eyes peek through her drooping fringe as Sam stepped out of the silver coupé and walked over to stand not far off. She polished off the beer and Sam crossed her arms across her chest, watching her with a little look.

"I hope you're not going to be spoiling the pristine mountain wilderness with your trash, Cameron." Sam's smiles weren't fair. Cameron shook her head slightly and looked into the deep blue of her friend's eyes.

"No, Sam," she flung the empty bottle over her shoulder without looking and smiled at the little look of horror on the astrophysicist's face, "I'm a conscientious visitor to our National Parks and Wildlands." She heard the satisfying clunk and clang of the bottle landing in the trash can fifteen feet away and smirked at the amazed smile which flitted across Sam's face. She shifted along the hood of her Mustang and patted the spot next to her. "How'd you find me anyway?" Sam gave her a little shake of the head and walked over, leaning back against the front of the car then shifting to sit on it, as Cameron was doing, while she spoke.

"I know you, Cameron, I can always find you." She glanced at the brunette and ran the back of her fingers along the light leather of her jacket. Cameron nodded once and looked down to the ground past her hands as she clasped the wrist of one with the other. Sam knew Cameron was hurting, and she knew it was mostly misplaced guilt over her own insecurities rather than anything that had happened between her and Danielle. The two liked to snipe at each other sometimes, but they had each other's backs, they'd covered each other's six for a year now for sure. Even while Sam sometimes had to play mediator between them it was never a matter of _if_ they would be going to get a beer together again, but _when_. Even now, two weeks after their break up they were still vitriolic best friends. "I will always find you." she whispered as the brunette glanced her way, her blue eyes shining under that tousled brown fringe. If Cameron smiled now Sam knew she was going to be in serious trouble, she would lose her nerve completely. Thankfully she was spared when the other woman looked away again. She gave a tiny sigh of relief. "Danielle is worried about you." She regretted saying it as soon as the words left her mouth and she cursed lightly at Cameron's little snort.

"Dani doesn't have to worry about me, Sam. She knows that." Cameron looked at Sam with a stern frown, she could see it hadn't been meant in that way, but she'd just hoped that maybe Sam had come for her own sake, not for someone else. "I'm happy for her. Sad for myself, but very happy for her."

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm worried about you too." Sam tried desperately to rescue things and reached out a hand to hold onto Cameron's arm. "I didn't come because she asked me to, I came because I needed to see you." Cameron's little frown of consternation turned into a little frown of confused hope. Sam smiled very slightly at her ability to read the woman before her. "Cameron, how long have we known each other now? Nearly eighteen years? Don't ever doubt that I would come for you, that anything could keep me from being by your side if you need me." She blinked rapidly when she said it. Knowing it was the truth, but also cursing herself because it hadn't always been. Cameron herself was looking away after raising a hand to rub at her brow.

"I know, Sam. I know how much you care for me." she breathed and Sam shook her head vehemently.

"No, you don't, Cameron, you really don't." She covered her mouth with her hands as Cameron looked over at her with a frown. Her brows creased in confusion then lifted in realisation when she looked at the fingers of Sam's left hand. "You have no idea, because I have no idea."

"Sam?" She reached over and touched the blond's fingers, taking the tips of them between hers and pulling her left hand over to her. She looked down at them and her thumb passed over the slight depression along one of them. She looked up with a look of pain. "Oh my God, Sam, I'm so sorry. When? Why?" Sam shook her head.

"Don't be sorry, Cameron. Jack and I aren't. I think we both knew even as we got married that it wouldn't work out. We have too much... baggage." She looked up at Cameron and her eyes were welling up. She wasn't surprised when Cameron slid off the hood of the car and stood in front of her, simply wrapping her arms around her. Sam buried her face into Cameron's neck as she had done so many times before in the past and let the tears flow. She felt horrifically guilty whenever she did so, knowing what she had done to her younger friend all those years ago. "We tried, we can say we know now, we can go back to how things should be."

"Sam, I don't know what to say." Her fingers brushed along the back of Sam's head, running through her soft blond hair and playing at the skin on the nape of her neck. Sam was in pain and Cameron couldn't just let her suffer without doing anything. "What can I do, Sam? Please let me do something." Sam's hands came around her waist and up her back to clutch at her cotton shirt inside her leather jacket, she said nothing, only resting her head on Cameron's shoulder. She sighed and stroked her best friend's hair in silence.

"I'm sorry, Cameron." Sam breathed into her neck after a few moments of silence. "I'm so sorry." Cameron shook her head in confusion.

"What for? You have nothing-" She was stopped as Sam pulled away and looked into her eyes. She froze at the piercing gaze she was receiving, intense, striking, frightening. Sam gripped the front of her jacket, holding on as if to keep her from running.

"I love you, Cameron. I've always loved you." Sam declared, her voice laden with purpose and power. "I hurt you so badly the day before you graduated and I hate myself for that, I've hated myself for it ever since that day." A tear rolled down her already moist cheeks as she saw Cameron stunned into silence by her words. "That day, when you told me..." She stopped, but dared not look away from the other woman's watery gaze. She lifted her hands to place them at Cameron's cheeks, then closed her eyes for a moment to regain her strength. "I went there to tell you that I loved you. Then that damn song came on and I lost my nerve. I was afraid, afraid to give you my heart in case you broke it, and then you just said it. You just came right out and told me that you loved me and I..." She looked down as her brows tightened and her eyes stung fiercely with a new wave of tears, she hunched over slightly until she felt Cameron's hand over one of hers against her cheek. She looked up to see those baby blues sparkling like a thousand pulsars and she nearly laughed out loud at how beautiful and strong she was, she took a deep breath before continuing. "I ran. I ran from you, Cameron, and it was the worst mistake I've ever made."

"Sam, I..." Cameron's soft voice was stopped by Sam's finger against her lips.

"Let me finish, Cameron." she pleaded. "The day we first met, when you gathered all us doolies by the Eagle and Fledglings statue and made it your mission to get us through the Academy, to get _me_ through the Academy, I knew that first moment when you locked your eyes on me that I would be pulled into your orbit." She let her finger run over Cameron's lips, tracing the curve of their fullness, the softness of their shape. "I thought it was just a crush, that you would never look at me that way. I was just the genius naif who wanted to be an astronaut." She laughed as Cameron frowned and shook her head vehemently, Sam gave a little theatrical pout and shook her head without once taking her eyes or her fingers from Cameron's lips. "I thought I had the courage to tell you, Cameron, that day before you graduated, but I realised how weak I was after that song played. When my courage failed at the lyrics yours were just bolstered, weren't they?" Sam looked up into Cameron's eyes. "You were so brave." She blinked back sudden tears. "I want to be that brave, my beautiful Cameron." She shook her head as she started stroking Cameron's cheek again. "And then I hurt you so badly when I... when I married Jack... when I told you I wasn't going to be joining SG-1 after you took over." She was surprised when Cameron just pushed against her, embracing her tightly. "No, Cameron..." She leant her head against the brunette's and ran her fingers into the short tousled hair at the back of her head. "You should have been so mad with me. All that time, all those years, you should have been so mad at me." She felt Cameron's tears running down her neck and into her collar.

"I could never... I want your happiness, Sam, I want to support you-" Cameron stopped speaking when Sam slapped the back of her head and pulled at her hair to force her to look into her fierce eyes.

"Why can't you ever be angry for yourself? Why can you never be selfish when it comes to your own happiness?" Sam's eyes welled up once more as the fierceness evaporated, leaving only a deep sadness. "Why could you not tell me how sad you really were?" Cameron's head dropped and she pushed it against Sam's chest as the sobs wracked her slender frame. Sam kissed her hair and rubbed her back between her shoulder blades until she calmed down several minutes later. "You're my happiness, Cameron. Do you believe me?" She pushed up Cameron's head with a hand under her chin, locking her blue eyes on to the younger woman's. "I love you, Cameron. Do you believe me?" she whispered fearfully. Her shoulders slumped in relief when Cameron just nodded and reached up the slender fingers of her hand to caress Sam's lips.

"Sam, can I... can I kiss you." she asked hesitantly, her eyes drifting down to the blond woman's mouth.

"Idiot. You never have to ask that ever again." Sam replied before pressing her lips against Cameron's, melting into her embrace, accepting her finally as everything she had always been to her. Cameron pushed against her, forcing her back, one arm around Sam's lower back as another was used to support her weight against the hood of the Mustang. Sam's own hands were wrapped around Cameron's neck, holding her up at the same time as they ran into the brown locks at the back of her head. She brought a leg around Cameron's hips to lock the brunette against her and let her lips and her tongue find Cameron's in her mouth.

"I love you, Samantha Carter, I love you so much." Cameron whispered as she pulled back, breathless. Sam caressed her cheek tenderly, then pushed the bangs from over Cameron's blue eyes to see the fire blazing in them. She nodded and grinned, kissing her over and over. They'd done so much together in the months since Sam rejoined SG-1. They'd both nearly died several times, and each time Sam had cursed herself for coming so close to losing Cameron without telling her the truth. That was all behind her now. She pushed Cameron back and slid off the hood of the car, pressing herself against the taller woman's slender body.

"Do you remember when we were nearly stranded in that alternate reality?" she asked, her eyes still watching Cameron's lips. She saw them moving up and down as their owner nodded. "Want to know what I was thinking all the time me and the other Carters were working on the problem?" She flicked her gaze to Cameron's eyes for a moment and smiled teasingly when she saw the curiosity flitting across them. She returned her eyes to those full lips before answering. "I didn't like the way they all looked at you. You have no idea what sort of effect you have on me do you Cameron? And it seems to apply across realities. They may have their hunky male Camerons, but they all still looked your way. Even the girls want you, Cameron, but you're mine. I was thinking that when we came back through the Stargate. You're mine." She saw the lips widen into _that_ smile which she could never stand up to, then they split into a grin and she couldn't help but kiss them again. After several ardent minutes she pulled away breathlessly and brushed her hand over the side of Cameron's neck. "Now, lock up your Mustang, I'll drive you back to base." She glanced at the trash can in the near distance and knew there would be a few empty beer bottles inside. "We'll come pick it up tomorrow, after our mission to P1X-011." Cameron nodded and slipped her hand into the pocket of her jacket, handing her car keys to Sam who took them with a smile.

"You know, not that many of the Carters came to talk to me while I was in that reality. Most of the Mitchells did, they were all kind of surprised I was with Dani." She smiled wryly for a moment as Sam slipped a hand around her waist and led her away to her Volvo. "Did you know that you and I being together is practically a cosmic phenomenon? A multiversal constant." Sam laughed brightly, that laugh which had bewitched her at the Academy whenever she could get it out of her. "One of the Carters, the one in the black BDUs, remember her?" She continued after Sam nodded then gave a little rueful shake of the head. It had been that Carter and her team that had caused the entire mess in the first place. "She came to me one day, not long after the b-ball game, and told me to 'cut the green one when the time comes' whatever that means."

"As ominous, cryptic warnings go, that's a doozy alright." Sam replied with a chuckle. "Still, they didn't strike me as bad, just desperate. Their reality was easily one of the worst among us." Cameron nodded sadly. "I do know she and her Mitchell were married." she added with a wink and a smile. Cameron laughed before getting into the Volvo's passenger side and waiting for Sam to get into the driver's side and get the car going.

"Yeah, like I said, almost a multiversal constant, which makes it kinda weird we were all shunted to a reality where they weren't together." she breathed sadly. "He was so obviously in love with his Sam and she was mooning over that Martouf, you know I love the guy, Sam, he's always been a big help to us, but still..." Sam clucked her tongue and flicked at Cameron's cheek with a chiding finger.

"Give her a break, her Martouf died while they were still sort of together. She must have been going through a lot." She followed the road back down the mountain and smiled when Cameron's fingers ran up and down the sleeve of her black top.

"I'm just saying I could sympathise with her Mitchell. I mean, he and I were certainly more alike than he and that Bizarro Shaft were." They both laughed at the mention of the dour Marine aviator, so unlike all the other Camerons. "Aparently their reality has something called 'fraternisation regulations' in place in the service. They kind of weren't allowed to be together." Sam looked at her askance, this being the first she'd heard of such a thing. "I know. It must make sense to them, I guess." she muttered.

* * *

Teal'c stood behind Danielle and Vala in the cover of the trees as they watched Sam's Volvo driving away. He blinked once and loosened his shoulders. It was the one way he showed his relief at the successful turn of events the three had just witnessed.

"Oh, I'm so happy for Cameron and Samantha." burbled Vala with a broad grin as she looped an arm through Danielle's. The archaeologist looked at her askance for a moment before turning to gaze at Teal'c who merely raised an eyebrow in return.

"Indeed, Vala Mal Doran. No offense to you, Danielle Jackson, nor to O'Neill, but this has been a long time coming." he intoned as he straightened the orange and brown beanie on his head to make sure it covered Apophis' Mark.

"None taken, Teal'c, believe me I'm glad too. Cameron deserves to be happy." The three of them turned around to head back towards Danielle's '48 Willys 'VJ' Jeepster drop-top to make their own way back to base. "We were just... helping each other, I suppose. When Sam came to me to tell me she and Jack were getting a divorce I knew what I had to do." Teal'c nodded as he opened the door and pulled the seat forward to get in the back, while Vala stepped around the front of the car to the passenger's side. "Do you know what did it in the end?" she asked as she got in the driver's side and waited for her friends, she turned to Vala to make sure she was listening. "After the Ori ships came through the Supergate, Sam was stuck floating free in space and the Asgard transport beams were out of commission." Vala's horrified look was what she expected to see. "Apparently, Cameron 'caught' Sam with one of Odyssey's flight bays." Vala blinked and turned to look incredulously at Teal'c.

"Is this true, Muscles?" she asked. Teal'c tilted his head to the side before replying.

"Neither myself nor Danielle Jackson were present to witness the events. However, it is indeed so, according to Colonel Emerson." He looked to the side as Dani drove down the mountain road with the top down. He enjoyed the countryside around Colorado Springs, it reminded him of Chulak. He allowed a small smile to play across his lips. Today was a good day.


	2. The Magnitude of Infinity

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate: SG-1, I'm just playing in the world

A/N: This was written in response to several prompts, but also because I felt the need to revisit this couple finally.

**Ripple Effect – The Magnitude of Infinity**

_Finding time to be together on their latest mission has been difficult, so Cameron happily takes advantage when the opportunity presents itself to steal a few moments with Sam on a moonlit beach._

While the unfeeling universe rolls on heedless of the needs of a pair of overworked Colonels, the moon, the stars, the sand and the rolling surf conspire to dole out a few precious seconds of coziness away from the watchful eye of obligation.

* * *

P6X-273, September 2006

She held her sandals by their straps as she walked slowly along the shifting sands of the beach. Deep red sand the likes of which she'd only seen before in pictures of deserts. Not the sort of colour she was used to finding by the sea. Something to do with the iron content of the silica had been the explanation given to her. It was presently too dark to actually discern the colour of the sand by sight, the sun had set long ago. She just knew it to be red. Seemingly interminable hours of diplomatic drudgery had already passed since the small beige-tinted moon had risen over the mountains to the west to hang in the sky amid the cloak of stars. Now it floated over the ocean to the east, setting a glow over the waves lapping high up the curving shoals which stretched away to the south.

She never usually had such florid thoughts. The local moonshine must be more potent than she'd given it credit for. She'd been on her best behaviour of course. She'd have been skinned alive had she not been, from multiple fronts. Today had been far too important a day to screw up. Which is why she was slightly upset that they'd all been giving her the pointed looks instead of directing them at Vala. Just what were they thinking anyway? She sniffed indignantly and huffily pushed her bangs away from her blue eyes as she stopped for a moment to look out over the moonlit sea stretching south and east across the bay.

"Cameron?" She spun around at the call and squinted deeper into the darkness towards a stand of tropical trees at the edge of the sand and the grassy verge which sped away towards the forest about a hundred metres beyond that in the gloom-shrouded distance. She blinked several times and finally made out the hazy shape of one of the hammocks strung between the trees. A slightly lighter blur in the murkiness.

"Sam?" she called as she started walking over. She heard a light giggle and couldn't suppress a smile. "What are you doing sitting here in the dark?" she asked as she came to a stop in front of the gently swaying hammock with the outstretched pair of legs pushing slowly against the sand.

"Same thing you were hoping to do, I'd imagine. Getting away from the dignitaries for a while." came the reply with the added bonus of a sparkling grin under eyes shining in the moonlight. Cameron put her hands on her hips and clucked her tongue as she put on a mock glare she knew couldn't be seen in the dark.

"And you didn't ask me to escape with you? Some girlfriend you are." she grumbled and initially refused to take Sam's proffered hand after the blonde just giggled when she held it out. Only when Sam's fingers opened and closed several times did she roll her eyes, again unnoticeable in the dark, and step forward to entwine her fingers with her lover's, she then turned around to slip into the hammock next to her. Sam immediately snuggled against her despite the heat and humidity of the local summer. Cameron smiled gently, it seemed Sam was a little tipsy.

"I wanted to, but you were surrounded by the Chieftain and his sons." Sam murmured as she let her head rest against Cameron's shoulder. She didn't care about how sticky the night air was, she just wanted to feel Cameron's skin against her own. It had been hours and hours since they could get even a few seconds to themselves.

"All the more reason for a rescue!" cried the brunette. Sam just laughed and turned her head to flash her a grin.

"And risk a diplomatic incident?" She reached up and flicked a chiding finger against Cameron's lips. "I don't think so." She let the finger trail down Cameron's chin and throat and past her collarbone to hook against the scooped neckline of the sundress Sam had picked out for Cameron to wear to that evening's function from the selection laid out for them by the local artisans. She lifted the thin fabric of the halter away from the other woman's lightly tanned skin, the heat having left a silky sheen that reflected the light from the stars, which only accentuated the play of muscle under the gentle swell of her breasts. "You were very noble, distracting them all like that." She let the cloth slip off her finger and flashed a coy smile to Cameron's displeased, and adorably pouty, glare until the brunette's eyes narrowed further as she cocked her head to the side slightly.

"So that's why." Cameron said quietly. Sam gave her a confused look as the brunette turned away to look towards the large moon hanging in the night sky. "That's why you made me wear this dress." she finished with a pointed look directed back to the blonde. Sam blinked in confusion then burst out into laughter. "Admit it! You dressed me up in this... thing... to use me as bait!" she cried, waving a hand over the front of the floral pattern sundress. "I'm just a big ol' lure to keep those grabby-handed pseudo-frat boys distracted." Cam had started chuckling along to Sam's continued laughter as the blonde shook her head insistently despite her inability to speak. "Don't try to deny it! You _know_ I'd never wear something like this except for you." Sam was grinning and had snaked her hand around the back of Cameron's neck. "It wouldn't have worked if the boys and I hadn't started comparing scars. You know I don't look good-" The kiss finally brought her half-serious rant to a close. The heated skin of Sam's flushed cheeks was pressed tightly against her own after their lips parted several ardent seconds later. Cameron set a trail of kisses back to Sam's lips after breathing in the scent of her skin and her hair, with that obnoxiously garish, but somehow mesmerising, tropical flower ornamenting her blonde locks. Sam's hand came up to brush against her cheek as they kissed.

"I did not have you wear that dress so the Chieftain's sons could ogle you," Sam breathed after she pulled back finally, tugging on Cameron's lower lip with her teeth, "or lose out to that scar down your leg from the crash." she finished with a hint of a smile. She leaned forward, touched her forehead to the brunette's temple and played with the hair at the nape of her neck for a moment before she moved her lips over Cameron's ear. "I think you look beautiful." she whispered, smiling gently when she felt Cameron shaking her head.

"But I don't have the figure for it." Cameron retorted in a slightly whining tone. "I just look like a bow wrapped in a towel from the ches down." She pulled at the fabric of her dress as she looked down at it. "Not like you." She looked up along Sam's legs and torso as she leaned against her. "You have such amazing curves." she breathed huskily before finally meeting the blonde's eyes, only dimly visible in the darkness. The humming purr that emitted from the woman next to her sent a sudden shiver sliding up her spine.

"I think you have curves in all the places that matter." Sam declared in a sultry whisper. Cameron tried to swallow through a suddenly dry throat. She reached up to caress the blonde's cheek with the back of her fingers, feeling the warmth of her skin. Unable to help herself she leaned forward to capture Sam's lips with a gentle kiss, once more tasting on her the fruity sweetness of the wine that had been served at the banquet. It mingled with that intoxicating taste that was just her Sam. "You're not boyish at all, very soft and feminine." Sam said after several more kisses. Cameron let a low rumbling growl build from the back of her throat and Sam just chuckled. The brunette smiled in amusement before sighing and turning to face out to sea again. She closed her eyes when Sam snuggled up against her once more, slipping an arm through hers.

"You know, when we went to that alternate reality I wasn't that surprised to find out I was supposed to be a man." Cameron shifted slightly to silence Sam's incipient protest, making sure to give her a bright smile. "I _was_ surprised to find out Dani was supposed to be a man though." That elicited a delighted laugh from the blonde and Cameron smirked smugly.

"That's awful, sweetie. You shouldn't say such things." Sam's voice held a hint of reproach, but it was tainted by the smile on her lips. She watched Cameron quietly for a moment, then reached up to push the tousled brown fringe away from the other woman's blue eyes before speaking again. "I don't just mean about Danielle. You are who you are meant to be, Cameron. You shouldn't think that you're meant to be different." The brunette regarded her with a slight frown before replying.

"You can't deny what we saw, Sam. All the other Cameron Mitchells were _very_ male." There was no sting in her words, but they still compelled Sam into taking a hold of Cameron's hand and entwining their fingers together.

"It doesn't work like that, Cameron. You can't-" She stopped and sighed when Cameron gave her one of her patented 'really, Sam? please...' looks. "I know exactly how many female Camerons there are out in the multiverse." she said with a smile, taking a different tack. The brunette frowned at her in confusion for a moment before her eyebrows shot up in understanding.

"Oh, no. Don't you even start with all that 'infinity' crap." she warned with a raised finger. "I've been reading up on parallel reality stuff ever since we got back and it got me brushing up on other things. I know that you can get an infinity which is larger than another infinity." Sam chuckled and grinned back at her. "Cardinality!"

"Well, of course. The set of even numbers is infinite, but it is only one half of the set of all integers." Sam offered conciliatorily. "That's not what I mean though. Yes, my answer was going to be 'an infinite number', but that's only a part of it." She raised a hand to brush along the edge of Cameron's jaw as she continued her explanation. "The number of male Camerons we encountered in that alternate reality doesn't mean anything. You can't use it to assume any sort of relative distribution, that would be reading too much into things. A kind of confirmation bias. Not to mention we know nothing about the selection criteria that linked all the realities with that hub universe. There are too many variables for you to try to induce any sort of correlation." Cameron laughed out loud. "What?" Sam asked with a little glare.

"I _know_ you've had more than a few drinks, but you're still able to break out the jargon without a hitch." She smiled at Sam and leaned in to nuzzle her cheek. "Just one reason I love you so much." Her smile became a grin at Sam's pleased purr. She sighed after a few moments. "Still, it's hard to overlook, Sam." she admitted softly. "I can't help trying to compare those infinities." Sam shook her head gently.

"Do you think there are no male versions of me out there in the multiverse?" she asked in a low voice. "We didn't see any on our trip, but what exactly does that mean?" Cameron just returned her look with a blank stare. "We can't know, Cameron. It is literally beyond the scope of our knowledge." She shifted so she could lean back against the brunette in the hammock and Cameron responded by slipping her arm over Sam's head and draping it over her shoulder, letting the blonde rest her head against Cameron's chest and shoulder. "I don't care about the infinite continuum of Sam Carters." She tilted her head back so she could meet Cameron's curious gaze. "I only care about me and you and what we have together."

"The set of us?" Cameron asked with the hint of a smile curling her lips. Sam giggled. "That's as much set theory as I care about I guess."

"Mmm. We can try to measure the magnitude of infinity, or we can live our own lives, as who we are, who we're meant to be." Sam smiled and closed her eyes as the tip of Cameron's finger dipped under the neckline of her dress to run along the swell of her breasts. "It would be like trying to count all the stars in the night sky." she said, waving a hand out to indicate the boundless void beyond the moon, and all the twinkling, burning pinpoints of light bathing them in the myriad hues of their nuclear fury. "Except even more pointless." She chuckled as Cameron giggled. "The only Cameron Mitchell I'm interested in is the one whose soft lips shepherd me to sleep each night and whose gentle touches rouse me to wakefulness each morning. Even if we haven't been managing that very much lately." She looked up at the brunette once more. "You're mine. You're my Cameron Mitchell and I love you." Cameron's eyes were sparkling with emotion as she took Sam's hand in her own and raised it up to her lips, slowly kissing each finger and finally holding the palm against her cheek.

"I love you too, Sam, with every beat of my heart." she whispered. Sam's thumb caressed her cheek slowly, then her hand moved to run into the short hair at the back of her head. They fell into a comfortable silence, just taking the opportunity to relax into each other's touch for the first time since arriving on the diplomatic mission.

* * *

Vala jumped when she felt the hand close around her elbow. She spun around to find Danielle giving her a baleful look from behind her glasses as she pursed her lips reproachfully.

"What are you doing, Vala?" asked the archaeologist.

"Nothing, Danielle. Nothing at all. I was just taking a walk," she waved her hand off into the darkness behind her, "getting away from the festivities for a moment." She gave Dani a serious look. "It's very crowded there, isn't it? I think it is. Far too many people for such a function, and everyone penned up in those tents, even if the shimmerstem cloth is practically not there it still felt stuffy-"

"Vala." Danielle interrupted with a forceful look. The former thief blinked and returned the look with a curious one of her own.

"What is it, darling?" she asked.

"You're spying on them, aren't you?"

"What? Danielle! How dare you make such an accusation. How _very_ dare you!" Vala cried in affront. "I'd _never_ stoop to such depths and I'm offended that you'd think so little of me." She crossed her arms over the front of her sundress and stuck her chin out in feigned indignation as she glared at the linguist. Her gaze shifted to look over Danielle's shoulder when she spotted Teal'c approaching out of the darkness. "Are you here to accuse me of snooping on our lovely Colonels too?" The Jaffa lifted an eyebrow as he came to a stop in front of both women, Danielle just rolled her eyes at him.

"Indeed not, Vala Mal Doran. I think it would be unnecessary to state such an obvious fact." he said softly as he raised his gaze to look out beyond the smaller woman, now sputtering in – noticeably guilty – mock-fury, and over towards the line of trees and the silhouetted hammocks where he could hear the soft laughter of Colonels Carter and Mitchell. He smiled gently at the sound, pleased that the two military leaders of SG-1 finally had a moment to themselves after the long days of negotiations and diplomatic manoeuvring.

"Come on, Vala." Danielle took a hold of the raven-haired woman's hand and began pulling her back the way they had come. "Sam and Cameron finally have a bit of peace after over a week, I'm not going to let you steal their moment." Vala growled angrily at the linguist. Dani just smiled at her and gave her hand a squeeze. "I'll let you have a dance with me. That will give all the stuck up emissaries something to look at." Vala's eyes brightened at that and Danielle chuckled at how easy it was to mollify her girlfriend. She lifted her other hand to pat down some strands of her hair which had slipped out of the tie at the back of her head and walked on towards the lighted tents off in the distance.

"You too, Muscles." Vala called over her shoulder at the Jaffa. "I want another dance with you as well." Teal'c nodded with a small bow and a light smile and clasped his hands behind his back as he followed the two women back down the moonlit beach.

* * *

A/N 2: I did not mean for it to end in a similar manner as the first story. It just happened that way, I swear. I hope it doesn't become a habit.


End file.
